Bowen's therapeutic approach is very different from other family therapies. It focuses on the importance of family emotional systems and the history of the system, which can be traced through the family dynamics of parents and grandparents' families (Sharf, 2012). One of the main goals of Bowen therapy is to reduce anxiety or stress by minimizing conflict, which can arise from conflicting relationships within the family system (Ticho, 1972, Rivett and Street 2009). This essay will examine how Bowen hopes to achieve these goals through a critical examination of his account of change during the therapy process. This will be done through an examination of the therapist's role in change, Bowen's broader concepts and, within these, the operationalization of specific techniques. It will also examine Bowen's focus on culture, suggesting that within the emotional system the role of culture is of less importance (Friedman 1991). The essay will then illustrate the effectiveness of the Bowen approach in producing change in a client; this will be done through a literary review of the research. For Bowen, the family is the unit of observation and the emphasis is on the emotional strengths common to all families, which helps to deemphasize the family member who caused the situation . issue. Bowens' approach to change is understood in the context of an effort to understand the forces of life, the very principle that gives coherence to Bowens' therapeutic approach. (Friedmann, 1991). When trying to bring about change in a client, the source of the problem is less important, but more about trying to locate systematic forces within a family as well as those that are passed down from generation to generation. in generation... middle of paper... ...viewed as a way to relieve conflict by separating the two people in conflict, it is given strategies to bring them together (Kerr and Bowen 1988). This can also contribute to stress having a different meaning for people in the triangle, stress can be seen as positional rather than quantitative, which has huge consequences for how people function across all their emotional systems. By simply communicating this idea to stressed individuals, it can help them become aware of the changes they should make, which is much easier than trying to get them to understand the personal qualities that motivate them to stay in stressful situations. (Friedman 1991). Interlocking triangles help trace a multigenerational transmission path when visualizing genogram information. This makes it possible to evaluate the change which is less affected by the psyche of the observer (Friedman 1991).